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Interior Rating:

The RC’s well-made interior is stylish, comfortable, and spacious, but only for front-seat passengers. Its wild exterior styling also comes with an interior drawback: big blind spots.

What’s New for 2018?

The only change for 2018 is a larger, 10.3-inch infotainment display for models equipped with the optional navigation system. Otherwise, the RC’s interior remains the same.

2017 Lexus RC

Interior Space Comparisons

While the RC’s front row offers the most legroom in this matchup, the rear is another story. Its cramped quarters will leave even short passengers feeling shortchanged.

Front-Seat Passenger Space

Back-Seat Passenger Space

Interior Features

The RC’s cabin features high-quality materials and sports a design that is uniquely Lexus. The front seats in our RC350 F Sport test vehicle were supportive, well cushioned, and wrapped in supple leather. All RC models come with dual-zone automatic climate control adjusted by touch-sensitive slider controls that are surprisingly intuitive and easy to use.

Feature

Standard/Optional

Tilting steering column

Standard

Telescoping steering column

Standard

Power-adjustable steering column

Optional

Heated steering wheel

Optional

Power-adjustable pedals

Not Available

Memory driver’s seat

Optional

Massaging driver’s seat

Not Available

Massaging front-passenger seat

Not Available

Power driver’s seat

Standard

Power front-passenger seat

Standard

Heated front seats

Optional

Heated rear seats

Not Available

Cooled front seats

Optional

Cooled rear seats

Not Available

Head-up display

Not Available

Rear-seat entertainment system

Not Available

Seat Adjustments

﻿2017 Lexus RC350 F Sport

Fore/Aft

Recline

Shoulder articulation

Lumbar support

Height

Thigh support

Side bolster

Headrest tilt

Driver’s seat

X

X

X

X

X

Front-passen-ger seat

X

X

X

X

Climate Control

﻿2017 Lexus RC350 F Sport

Manual climate control

Automatic climate control

Dedicated vent(s)

First Row

No

Two-zone

Yes

Second Row

No

No

Yes

Cupholder Location

Vehicle Tested: 2017 Lexus RC

Interior Sound Level

Modern cabins do an excellent job of insulating passengers from ambient noise, but none can completely eliminate the sharp wind and the drone of tire noise when you’re traveling at highway speed. To measure the interior sound-pressure level, we use a Brüel & Kjær Type 2250-L sound meter, which we position in the middle of the first row of seats at the height of the driver’s ear. The meter automatically averages 15 seconds of sound in A-weighted decibels (dBA), taken while the test car is cruising at 70 mph. (A-weighting is an industry standard that adjusts decibel readings to better reflect how the human ear hears various frequencies.) We take two measurements and average the results. We also correct for speedometer inaccuracies with our GPS-based data loggers. It is worth noting that decibels are a logarithmic unit, so a rating of 40 decibels isn’t twice the sound pressure of 20 decibels; it is 10 times the sound pressure. A six-decibel increase roughly doubles the sound pressure.

Seating and Step-In Height

To accurately measure seating height—the distance from the road to the driver’s hip—we use an H-Point Machine (HPM), a precisely engineered device marketed by SAE International. This versatile tool, in conjunction with a laser device, reveals the width and location of roof-pillar visibility obstructions (blind spots). Our HPM and laser measurement tools determine the length of road obscured by the hood as well as the road obscured by the trunk or hatch (as seen through the rearview mirror).

Test Results: Seating Height

Test Results: Step-In Height

Blind Spots, Visibility, and Obscured Roadway

When compared with its rivals, the RC’s visibility is the most compromised, especially the view to the rear. The rearmost roof pillars are wide, and the sloping rear window limits visibility.

Roof pillars protect occupants in a rollover crash, but they also create blind spots. We determine visibility by measuring the location and width of each pillar using an H-Point Machine and a laser beam (surrogates for a driver and eyeball, respectively). Front and rear visibility are calculated by subtracting the viewable area blocked by the pillars from a perfect 180-degree score.